Botanical classification: Petuniaxc3x97hybrida cultivar Red MP101.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petuniaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Red MP101.
The new Petunia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia. The objective of the breeding program is to create outwardly spreading Petunias with numerous small flowers with attractive flower colors.
The new Petunia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor during the spring of 2000 of a proprietary Petunia selection identified as X00.120, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary Petunia selection identified as X00.167, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Petunia was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny of the cross-pollination by the Inventor in 2000, in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia, on the basis of its outwardly spreading habit and numerous small red-colored flowers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by vegetative cuttings taken in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia since 2000 has shown that the unique features of this new Petunia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Red MP101 have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Red MP101xe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Red MP101xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact, outwardly spreading and mounded plant habit.
2. Relatively short internodes, dense and bushy growth habit.
3. Freely branching habit.
4. Small leaf size.
5. Numerous small red-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Petunia and the female parent differ in flower color as plants of the female parent have dark pink-colored flowers. Compared to plants of the male parent, plants of the new Petunia have smaller leaves and smaller flowers.
Plants of the new Petunia can be compared to plants of the cultivar Dancasred, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia, plants of the new Petunia differed from plants of the cultivar Dancasred in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Petunia had shorter internodes than plants of the cultivar Dancasred.
2. Flowers of plants of the new Petunia had smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar Dancasred.
3. Plants of the new Petunia had smaller flowers than plants of the cultivar Dancasred.